1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multidirectional inputting apparatus capable of operating a switch in response to a tilting direction of an operating lever.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-235241, a multidirectional inputting apparatus has been proposed. Such a conventional multidirectional inputting apparatus is mainly composed of a housing of which the top surface is opened, a cover placed on the opening end of the housing, a switch element provided inside the housing, and an operating lever for operating the switch element. The switch element is composed of one central fixed contact provided on the inner bottom surface of the housing, a plurality of peripheral fixed contacts and common contacts, and a movable contact plate placed on the inner bottom surface of the housing. The movable contact plate is always in contact with the common contacts, but the central fixed contact is separated from the peripheral fixed points. The operating lever is tiltably held inside the housing, and the upper portion thereof is projected outside through the cover. This operating lever is provided with a flange, and the flange has a plurality of support points opposing the lower surface of the cover and elastic portions located outside of respective support points formed thereon.
In the thus constructed conventional multidirectional inputting apparatus, when the operating lever is in the neutral position, the movable contact plate is separated from the central fixed contact and the peripheral fixed points, so that a switch-OFF state can be obtained. On the other hand, when the operating lever is tilted in an arbitrary direction, the operating lever is tilted using the support points located in the opposite side of the tilting direction as fulcrums, so that elastic portions located in the tilting direction press the periphery of the movable contact plate, and the lower end of the operating lever presses the center of the movable contact plate. This allows the peripheral fixed contacts and the central fixed contact to be electrically connected through the movable contact plate, thereby obtaining a switch-ON state.
Therefore, although the movable contact plate is not in contact with the central fixed point, the elastic portions cause further flexing when the operating lever is tilted in an arbitrary direction and the movable contact plate comes into contact with the peripheral fixed contacts, thereby bringing the movable contact plate into contact with the central fixed contact.
The above conventional multidirectional inputting apparatus encounters the following problems.
The apparatus is constructed so that the elastic portions formed on the operating lever bring the movable contact plate into contact with the peripheral fixed contacts. Therefore, contact pressure of the movable contact plate to the peripheral fixed contacts cannot be increased, resulting in poor electrical connection.
Since one central fixed contact and a plurality of peripheral fixed contacts surrounding the central fixed contact are required to be provided on the inner bottom surface of the housing, the width of the housing is increased according to a space for arranging thereon these fixed contacts, so that a reduction in size of the apparatus is prevented.